Peanut-harvester.



L. E. MEADOR. PEANUT HARVESTER.

' APPLICATION FILED MAY 5. 19!]- 1,249,445. Patented Dee.11,191=7.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

l6 l9 17 g INVENTOR I. flea d or citizen of the United States, residin Vineyard; in the count of Jack and tate.

of Texas, have invente new and useful Im-i J-provenientsin Peanut-Harvesters, of which .the following is a specification.

ED STATES mtrnnrormon LENERD E. MEADOR, OF VINEYARD, TEXAS.

rnano'r-nnnvnsrnn.

. Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedDemli, 1917.

Application riled May 5, 1917. Serial No. 166.683.

i To all whom it may 00m Be it known that I. LENnRn M'nAoon, a at f {This invention relates to peanut harvesting machines and it has for its object to produce an organized machine of simple and improved construction by the use of which and thoroughly shaken and agitated so as to' separate dirt and sand from the vines and deposited on the peanut vines may be dug from the ground,

nuts; the vines and nuts being'bunchedand ound in piles or heaps for sub uent gat ering.

furt er object of the invention is to simplify andiinprove thesconstruction and o ration of the mechanism whereby the ZVIIIQHEQd thQ IIUtS adhering thereto will be {subjected to a thorough beatingand a itat v ing operation while being carried lengt wise of the machine frame to the buncher'or carrier at the tail end of the machine. v

Further objects of the invention are to sim lify' and improve the construction, as-] semblage and operation of the detailed parts of the machine.

these. and other objects in view which will readily appear as the nature of the invention isbette'r understood, the same "consists ,in the, improved construction and 1 novel arrangement and combination of parts which. will be" hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

- IIn' the accompanying drawings has, been "illustrated a simple and preferred'form of ythefinvention; it being, however, understood 3 that no. limitationis necessarily made to the recise structural details V-therein exhibited,

. ut that changes,lalt'er'ations and modifications within the scope ,of the claims may be";

" resorted'to when desired..-

"Fi machine in position for operation.

'Eig. Qis atop plan view.

,- wjF ig ..i-3 is stop plan view with the elevav tor anditopframezremoved. H

,zF'g. 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectio'iial :view'talren on-"the line '4 l in Fig.2

1n the drawings,

7 machine.

re 1' is a side elevation showing the "showing the machine in posltion for transportation.

Fig. 5. 'sa rear elevation; Fig. .6 is a perspective detail view of the plow and the supports for the same.

Corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings-are'denoted byli-ke chara ters of reference.

- The frame structure of the improved machine includes a bottom frame or main frame A and a top frame B, the latterbeing su 4 ported above and in spaced relation to t e main frame by braces or supports 15. The main frame'A is 'supported on an axle16.

having carrying wheels '17 which'have been shown as being equipped with triangular ground engaging spikes or grouts 18 'of large size to insure rotation and. prevent slipping of'the wheels'when the machinefis in operation. Connected with one of the wheels 17 for rotationtherewith is a sprocket wheel 19 of large size from which moi tion will be transmitted, as hereinafter deg scribed, to the various movingpartg of the.

,The side members 20 of the franie A are provided at their forward ends with me'- tallic brackets or reinforcements'2leach having a forwardly extending nose 22, said j noses affording supports for the plow. 23,

the'latter consisting of' an approximately, V.-shaped blade or d1 ger which is mounted securely by means of lts24= on the noses 22'. The digger, it will be observed, constitutes an inclined plane over which the vines that are dug fromthe ground will slide in an upward direction, said digger being provided at the rear -edge' thereofwith' rearwardly extending, fingers-25 over which the vifnes' will bemoved alfidIguided by means" -yet to be describedji said fingers beingprefer ablyiof a resilientnature so thxitthy, wil'l be readily vibrated, setting I lap-a shaking .aor tron which-"constitutes the r st step in 1 effecting thei'separation of h dirtifro'm the;

vines, the sword vines being understoodjto include thenutsladherin thereto. Theside n embersQO are provide with boxes 26 af fording bearin diawirggs five have been howaiabgi n w a t t in eter yibevei e .at

will. In the accompanying illustrations the roller'carrying shafts from the front'to rear have been designated by 27, 27", 27, 27

and27", the rollers on said shafts bein'g desifinated by 28, '28", 28, 28 and 28".. The afts from front to rear are equipped with sprocket wheels 29, 29", 29, 29 and 29 "and itwill here be observed that while the 1 shafts'and' the rollers carried thereby are of substantially the same dimensions, the

q Sprocket wheels carried by said shafts are of decreasing diameter from front to rear the sprocket wheel 29 being .the largest an i the s rocket wheel 29 being the smallest of 'the ve.- Eachrolleris provided with ra- ,dially extending arms or heaters 39 formed ipreferabl'y of resilient rods or wires, said arms being slightly bent at t eir outer-"extremities as shown at 31. T e first, third and fifth rollers counting from the front end of the machine have been shown as be ing equipped with four longitudinal seriesof five eaters each; the said eaters engaging the interspaces between he heaters of. the second and fourth rollers,'ea cl'i of "which has been shown as being provided withiour longitudinal series of four heaters each. It will be understood that the num- Y her of series :-as well as the number of heaters in each series may be varied at will it being only necessary .that the-heaters of i alternate rollers shall engage theinterspaces between .the heaters of the rollersllocated intermediate such alternate rollers, .the

I as

carrying shafts.

heaters being ofsuch length that the heaters of proximate rollers will overlap as most clearly seeninFig, 4 of the drawings. The

heaters of the foremdstrollrflfS are also arranged to engage the interspaces between the fingers 25 that extend rearwardly from the-plow or digger. Idler sprockets 32 are su orted for rotation on one of the frame me hers '20 intermediatethe roller The to frame B, of the machine includes side em ers 33' at the front and'rear ends li ihh-are provided bearings for shafts 34.

'and'8 5, said shafts serving to support an The rear shaft 351s provided "with sprocket endlessconveyer 0 including an apron 36 having slats 3.7 provided with spikes 38.

wheels one of which 39 is connected with -the slarocket wheel 19 hy-means of a chain or link".

lt 40. The other sprocket'wheel .41 of the shaft 35 is used for the transmission of power to-thev roller" carrying shafts 27,

27'', 27!, '27 and 273, a chain 42 being tra ned over the said sprocket wheel 41 an over the sprocket wheels on the respective shafts; and also 7 over the intermediate .idlers 32 which serve as chain tighteners whereby the transmission chain will, be held snugly in engagement with the-sprocket wheels of theirespective roller carrying shafts. It will be here noted that due to the I diiferencein the size of the sprocket wheels of the respective roller carrying shafte,-'the' said shafts will be rotated at different s eeds, the foremost shaft 27 developing t elowest speed and the rearmost shaft 27' developing the highest speed. v v, Journaled in bearings'at the rearward ends of the side members 20 of the main frame A is a rock shaft 43 havin rearwaidly extending arms 44 which com ine to.

form a supporting platform or buncher for the v nesdischarged thereon .over the. rearmost roller carrying shaft 27". The rock shaft 43. has a crank 45 which is connected by a lmkrod 46. with pne arm 47 of a bell crank D the other arm of which 48 is con? nected by a link rod 49 with a foot lever 50 which, is-supported-in front of the seat fil-provided for the driver or operator of the machine. A latch 52 operable by the toe of the drivers foot. may be provided to latch the foot lever in position .to support the arms 44 of the huncher in a raised position to receive the vines. By releasing the latch 52 the buncher will he tilted,"by'the $0 Weight of thevines, to a discharging position from which it may be restored toa "re; ceiving position by means of the footlever 50.- 53 is a draft tongue which is provided: with rearwardly divergent hounds 54,from 95, which the side members j 55 of-the tongue frame extend rearwardly in substantially pgrallel relation the term tongue, frame i'ng understood to includethe hounds 54 f and the side members 55. The rearward ends of the side'members 55 are pivotedon splndles 56 secured on'the side members 20 of, the frame Awhich, as well as theside members 33 of the frame B, are included be tween the side members of the ton ,e frame. N05 The tongue frame supports a roc shaft 57.

.having terminal cranks 58 which are con:

nected by links 59 with the side members 20 t of the frame A at points well in' advance of the spindles 56, it being evident that by ,the 110.

manipulation of the rock shaft 57 the forward-end of the frame of themachinemay v raised or.lowered thereby moving the plow from an earth-engaging position as seen in Fig. I to apositlon for transportation. as seen. in Fig. 4, or vice versa. For the purpose of operating the rockshaft 57 said shaft is provided with a crank 60, the

same being connected by a'link rod 61 with a hand lever 62 supported in; a convenientposition adjacent to the drivers seat, said hand legergheing'equippedwith a stop mem ber 63 engaging a rack segment 64 wliereb the partswill be secured in adjusted "peel-- tion..t

. "126 From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings hereto arinexed, the operation and'advantagesof this machine will be readily understood by those skilled. in the art to which it appertains. The vines will be dug from the ground by the plow or digger over the inclined plane of which they will slide in an upward direction until, about the time when the fin gers 25 are reached, the vines will be thrown upwardly b the heaters associated with the foremost ro ler carrying shaft. The vines, being thus thrown upwardly, will be engjaged by the toothed slats of the conveyer being thereby dragged upwardly and rearwar 1y, being at the same time permitted to sag somew at between the heaters of the firstand second roller carrying shafts until ainithrown upwardly in the direction 0 therdbnveyer by the heaters of the second roller 'oarrying shaft. It will also be noted that,the second roller carrying shaft 27 operating at greater speed than the first roller carrying shaft 27, the tendency of the heaters associated with the second roller carrying shaft will be to tear the vines forcihlylfrom engagement with the heaters associated with the first roller carrying shaft, the operation being repeated by each of the roller carrying shafts as the material progresses toward the tail end of the machine. The vines will thus not only be carried through the machine by the combined action of the heaters and the conveyer, but they, will be subjected to successive beating and pulling or disintegratingoperations ried thereby,

the rotary heaters and the heaters associated with the successive roller carrying shafts, the dirt and being permitted to drop to the ground while the vines are finally discharged over the rearmost roller carrying shaft 27 upon the huncher where they are permitted to accumulate until a pile of proper dimensions has been formed which-may then he dischar ed on the ground by manipulation of the cot lever 50 and the latch associatedtherewith. The peanuts will thus be harvested and cleaned from adhering dirt in a rapid, efficient and labor saving manner.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new 1s:

1. In a peanut harvester, a wheel sup ported main frame, an auxiliary frame supported above and in spaced relati'pn to the main frame, rotary heaters carried by the main frame, an endless conveyer carried by the auxiliary frame, and means for actuating the endless conveyer.

2.' In a machine of the class described, a wheel supported main frame, a digger caran auxiliary frame supported above and in spaced relation to the main frame; a plurality of rotary heating elements carriedby the mam frame, a drlven endless conveyer carried by the auxiliary frame, and

means for transmitting motion from the endlesacom'eyer to the rotary heating elements.

ing a roller having heaters mo st one at low .s

'to be thereby 3. In a machine of thy: class described, a wheel supported main frame, a digger carrled thereby and having rearwardly extending fingers, an auxilia frame supported above and 1n spaced re ation to the main frame, a plurality of shafts carried by the mam frame, sald shafts having rollers equipped with radial heaters, an endless conveyer carried by the auxiliary frame, means for driving the conveyer, and means for transmitting motion from the conveyer to the shafts'carried by the main frame.

4. In a machine of the class described, a wheel supported main frame, a plurality of shafts carried thereby and arranged in longitudmal series, each shaft carrylng a roller rovided with radial heaters, an auxiliary rame supported above and in spaced relation to the main frame, an endless conveyer sively higher speeds.

5. In a machine of the class described, a wheel supported main frame, a plurality of shafts carried thereby and arranged in longitudinal series, each shaft carrying provided with radial heaters, an auxiliary a roller frame supported above and in spaced rela- I tion to the main frame, an endless conveyer carried by the auxiliary frame, said conveyer including an apron and toothed slats, means for driving the endless conveyer, and means for driving the beater carrying shafts at various speeds, the foremost one at low speed and the succeeding ones at progressively higher speeds, the heaters carried by the respective shafts being proportioned to overlap shafts and to engage the interspaoes therebetween. a

6. In a machine of the class described, a wheel supported main frame, a plurality of shafts carried thereby, said shafts being arranged in longitudinal series and each carryradiating theredriving the shafts, the' foreeed and the succeeding higher speeds, an aux above and in spaced from, means for ones at progressive y iliary frame supported the heaters carried by proximate relation to the main frame, a driven endless conveyer guided on said frame, and means for digging material and for presenting such material to the heaters of the foremost shaft thrown upwardly in engagement with the conveyer.

7. In a machine of the class described, a wheel supported main-frame a plurality of shafts carried thereby, ranged in longitudinal series and each carry bottom leadof the endlesssaid s afts being aring a roller having heaters radiating therefrom, means for drlvmg the shafts, the foremost one at low s ,eed and the succeeding ones at'progressive y higher speeds, an aux- 5 iliary frame supported above and in spaced relation to the main frame,- a driven endless conveyer guided on said frame, and

' means for digging material and for resenting such material to thebeaters of t e fore- '10 most shaft to be thereby thrown upwardly in engagement with the bottom lead of the endless conveyer, in combination with abuncher including a rock shaft mounted at the rearward end of themain frame and hav ,mg rea'rwardly extending arms, and means for actuating the rock shaft to move the buncher to its respective receiving and discharging positions.

' In testimony whereof I aflix m si LENERD E. MA

. ature. 

